The mint that took over the world

I enjoy my mums. They are such tough little flowers; they keep on going into November most years.

I'm not nearly as fond of the mint that grows like wildfire next to the mums. It tries to infiltrate the mums. It spreads in between the lilies and the daffodils. It smells good, but it is a very aggressive bully of a plant!

Enter the resourceful Daisy. Dirty cardboard, big bags from bunny litter, large pieces of thick non-recyclable cardboard and layered paper.

Next: convince Chuck to help. Dig out as much mint as possible. Cover area with paper layers and cardboard. Toss a layer of gravel on top to weigh it down. Later, when there's time, I'll bring up a wheelbarrow load of compost and/or dirt to cover the paper and gravel. Next spring there may be a few sprigs of mint coming up, but I can handle those.

That's what mojitos are for, right?

Putting the garden to bed for the winter

It looked like this at first. Deceptive, really; the air was quite cold.

Then I pulled out all the stops, er, stakes and supports and put them in a safe and sheltered place next to the garage. The rain barrel is already off the cinder blocks.

Without their supports, the tomato plants looked like this -- sprawled across the ground, no strength left.

Don't worry; I picked as many tomatoes as I could before this. A few random and hardy zucchini, too. We'll be eating fresh for a while longer.

It's a bittersweet time, putting the garden to bed for the winter. It's the final end of one season and the beginning of another, and the waiting begins until we can plant again in spring.

Goodnight, tomatoes. Goodnight, zucchini. Goodnight, peppers. Goodnight -- oh, all right, I'm done.